Silfverbergs four-point night carries Ducks past Hurricanes

James Guillory—USA TODAY Sports
Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg (second from right)celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Ducks won

RALEIGH — The Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes came into Thursday’s game in Raleigh with 33 total goals in second periods, nearly half of their combined 68 on the season.So it was no surprise four more were scored in the cross-conference matchup, with Anaheim — led by Jakob Silfverberg’s four-point night — getting three of them en route to a 4-2 win over the Hurricanes.”I thought we had a good start and then needed to sustain that start and needed to push,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “Then a couple missed assignments in the second and an unassisted goal on the game-winner, and then all of a sudden you’re on your heels.”Carolina’s third pairing of Ryan Murphy and Klas Dahlbeck were victimized on the Ducks’ first two goals, and Silfverberg scored his second of the night after a Brett Pesce turnover to push Anaheim’s lead to three.”That’s been a mystery, that third pair,” Peters said. “If you charted them all, the combinations, there would be a bunch of combinations. We haven’t obviously found one that we think is 100 percent successful that works for us right now at this time, so we’re still looking there.”Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen’s third goal of the season at 14:58 of the second period — a redirection of a Jaccob Slavin shot that gave him his first tally at PNC Arena — gave Carolina (3-6-4) some momentum the balance of the frame and into the third.”They just got the lead, three goals pretty quickly,” Teravainen said. “So we just tried to turn it around and work harder, get to the net and shoot some pucks.”Carolina had their chances, pulling within one when Victor Rask scored on a nice feed from Jeff Skinner. But Ducks goalie Jonathan Bernier stood tall the rest of the way, making a handful of key stops before Ryan Kesler got his second of the night on an empty net.”We can’t get down two. We can’t get down three,” Peters said. “You can’t give up easy goals. Even the one that was just bang-bang from under the goal line, that’s a pretty easy play to defend if you’re dialed in.”After a scoreless opening period, the Ducks (7-5-3) got their first goal on the aforementioned play. After Andrew Cogliano won a puck battle against Murphy, he got the puck back from Silfverberg and fed a nice backhand pass to the slot that Kesler banged in at 4:46 for a 1-0 lead. Silfverberg, who got the secondary assist on the first goal, then scored his first of the night less than five minutes later. He ended up factoring in on all four Ducks goals, finishing with two goals and two assists for his second career four-point night.Notes: Dahlbeck was on the ice for all three of Anaheim’s second-period goals. … Murphy was inserted into the lineup despite Jakub Nakladal looking like he would be the No. 6 D at the morning skate. … Viktor Stalberg fought Josh Manson in the second period, the fourth fight of his NHL career. He finished with a team-high five hits. … Sebastian Aho assisted on Teravainen’s goal, snapping a seven-game pointless streak.